ER_NuclearIsotopes

The Periodic Table of the Elements is organized to show elements in chemical families. When elements are in a vertical column, they make similar chemical bonds. For example, if a Carbon atom combines naturally with 2 Oxygen atoms (to make carbon dioxide), a Silicon atom will also combine with 2 Oxygen atoms (so make silicon dioxide).

The study of radioactivity is more interested in the number of protons and neutrons in the atom than how it reacts chemically. this exercise will ask you to adopt an element, and investigate its nuclear properties. If you can fill in the chart below for any atom, you have mastered the fundamentals of nuclear isotopes! The Periodic Table icon leads to information about nuclear isotopes.